TimeLine Notebook

Water and Agriculture

At
this point in agricultural history, simple yet effective mechanization
to move water to a remote location — that is, to fields where crops
are tended — means a more steady food supply and increased food
production. More food supports a greater population size... and herein
is a seed for global change. But the world's population doesn't explode
just yet. Later, in the modern era sophisticated machinery used to
support irrigation becomes of even greater importance. Here is an
example in an earlier time when a convenience was an advantage but
perhaps not a critical necessity. Today, the world food supply is
more dependent on technology.

In
recent time, in response to population pressures
— as well as the necessity for a farmer
to simply produce a consistent harvest year
to year — the increased reliance on
irrigation is accompanied by losses to soil
by erosion, soil fertility, and even a decline
in global fresh water reserves. Just about
all the land that can be put into production
is now in production... and we see a maximization
of irrigation with little potential to make
significant additions to expand world agriculture.
Farmers have come close to the maximum capacity
for global production while soil erosion
continues and water quality and availability
is not an infinite given — especially
in the face of global
change.

We
will not say food production is in jeopardy,
the main point here is more basic. From
this point on the time line to modern times
there is a shift in resource uses and humanity
makes increasing demands on the earth as
our population grows. This is one of the
factors that contributes to what we've discussed
elsewhere under the heading of Convergence.
The transitions and shifts overtime are
part of the WindowView.

Web (Internet): Occasionally
we find what appear as reliable, but formally unpublished, sources on the Internet. As such these entries remain to be fully confirmed. In many cases this information is found to agree with the remainder of the timeline and the published sources used here.

For a general listing of books, visit the WindowView Book Page for: Science and Scripture .

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